I Don't Have to Try
by CanIhaveSomePie
Summary: AU. Allen needs to get all A's for his exams so that he could get back to Lavi and Lenalee. Because of all the bullies and interruptions he had to face, he seek help from Kanda; a popular but cold hearted student in the school. Yullen.
1. Contagious

Disclaimer: Hoshino Katsura own –Man, not me.

Note: Since I've deleted my lasy fic, now I'm going to made it up with this uh… 'I Don't Have to Try' (I really need to come up with a better title =.=) It was supposed to be a one-shot but then I've split it up to 3-shots or so.

This chapter is not really that good since it is the opening. But the next one I promise I'll write it as exciting as possible! =)

Read and Review.

* * *

Chapter 1: Contagious

As dawn set, sun rose up slowly awakening the sleeps. The former dark skies were painted brighter by ray of gold. Yawning in front of the window in his dorm room, Allen dug his short nails inside his white tresses. Little pearly liquid formed on the corner of his eyes by all the little stretching and he brushed them off. Still a little bit wary, his lithe finger was brought up and pressed onto the foggy window that had only allowed him to see a vague vision of the outside world. For an odd reason, the fifteen-year-old teen started to draw patterns on the glass -a childish maneuver that he would checked done every morning- and as usual the constant patterns soon turned into a random smiling face. Allen loved that face. It stared right back at him and just smiled; an emotion he liked best. But sadly that would only last for a while before it faded away by the outside's heavy mist, and soon another twin for the disappeared drawing formed again on the same window by the same person.

After a while of the immature moment, he turned back to catch a glimpse of his dorm room. Yes, _his_ dorm room, since he was the only inhabitant lives in it. The ever-his-solitude dulled the already grey orbs. The boy was downright lonely. Because of his deformed, filthy, ugly left hand no one dared to be his dorm mate. Allen couldn't help it though, he was born that way.

His gaze was then fixed at the clock on the wall, approximately 6:20 a.m. He got up _that_ early every day, enjoying the blurry view of the outside through the misty window that he was too lazy to open. He would listen to birds and crickets sing; the sound of footsteps getting louder and louder as time passed. Maybe the teen was the first one to awake, at least in the junior dorm building. Who knows there might be someone that awakens earlier than Allen somewhere from the senior dorm building, located just at the opposite direction of his room, which was almost close to impossible because Allen woke up at 5 in the morning every day. It was becoming a habit, getting up that early. Mainly because of the strict rules of his foster father, Cross, -he shivered at that- that he had to obey. It was not a good memory to remember.

Allen missed his friends back in London, especially his closest Lavi and Lenalee. He was treated far different than how he was here. In his homeland, people were nice and friendly despite his physical self. But in Japan, which where he currently was, students kept cuss and insult him. It was difficult being extremely queer from others. He terribly wanted to go back home. His _real _home, not here. Even in the hallway of the goddamn school, students would give him a second disgusted glance and most girls would whisper to each other about something Allen needn't to guess what it was. Surrounded by everyone that were physically similar; small eyes, tanned skin and dark hair, Allen terribly stood out.

He doesn't want to be here in the first place. It was Cross's fault, promising a friend, whom he had debt with, that he would send someone to work with him until his debt was paid. Luckily the 'friend' was a nice, loving owner of a coffee shop, Froi Tiedoll. Allen doesn't need to overwork himself since that man was far from having a torture fetish (unlike Cross). He knew teens like Allen needs to study and lay low, maybe that was why he treated Allen like his own son. The man even wondered why Cross would let such a young boy to work.

Allen's timetable was simple: Schooling until 3p.m and then rush to Tiedoll's coffee shop until 6. After his shift was over he would go back to his dorm and then finish all the schoolwork given before he went to sleep.

Rose up from the rural thought, Allen realized the sound of chattering was getting louder. With that, he took his school bag that was placed next to the study table and went outside. Of course, after making sure every electrical appliance had been turned off.

-----

"Look, its Kanda-sempai!"

The awful sound of giggling girls was not new to Kanda. So does the stares of adoration from the guys. He hated being in the center of attention. His good looks and excellent studies couldn't help increasing his popularity. Glaring was the only move he could carry on at the moment. However his attempt to drive away all his audiences just enticed them more.

Changing to Plan B, he walked through the hallway faster, increasing his pace as he did so. The faster he ran, the louder his admirers' noisy squeals. It sounded much like a buzzing sound pierced into his ears that he was sick of. The reason of their rising admiration was -as Kanda accidentally heard- because of his long hair flown with grace and the elegance of his slender legs when they moved apart from each other. Those kinds of comments made him wants to throw up. Really, instead of saying such bullshit, these people need to think more about studies, at least, that's what he does.

Finally the hallway was cleared from his vision and was replaced by a classroom,_ his_ classroom. It was a bit of relief for him, although there were still large amount of drooling girls in his class which he paid less attention to. Kanda pivoted his sight to his watch, innocently curled around his wrist with a picture of Soba on it. 7:59a.m, if the watch wasn't wrong. He made his way to his seat, letting just few seconds passed until the first bell of the day rang.

A teacher walked in; tall but not skinny, dressed in charcoal grey suit, a match for his grey hair. "I'm giving back your Mathematic examination papers now, starting from the highest." He sounded after greetings between the teacher and the students were exchanged. Slouching, Kanda bowed his head down to face the desk, knowing whose name would likely to come first. "Kanda Yu." The male teacher said in a professional manner, his hand held Kanda's paper and it was pointed towards the teen. Kanda's classmates let out a huff that signaled an obvious expectation. The girls giggled as Kanda rose up from his seat, walking gracefully towards the teacher.

-----

Allen shifted on his seat. It was never pleasant spending his time in class. As everyone eyed on his gloved hand, surroundings felt uncomfortable. 'Freak', he can hear that from someone's whisper somewhere near him. He was used to this though; he just didn't like it at all.

As the teacher stepped inside the class, they rushed to their own seat and made a 'Good Morning'. The teacher, female in her forties announced about the submission of their exam papers. Of course the papers were given in order from the highest mark to the lowest. Allen's came in last. He strode from his seat and took the paper. Reds of 'X's smudged across the piece, only few 'O's were on view. He actually wasn't that stupid, he just got distracted most of the time during teaching lessons. The distraction was-

"Hey, _the freak_ got the lowest again. Bo-hoo~!" A taunting sound of one of his classmates blasted, making more of them boost into laughter. Cheeks flaming, Allen looked down in huge embarrassment. _That_ was the reason why he couldn't pay attention in class.

When the school period came to an end, students rushed back to their dorm. But Allen headed differently. He gave wings to his feet towards Tiedoll's Coffee Shop. On his way there, still on the school ground, he was taken aback by the happy sounds of the females. Looking towards the sound, he saw Kanda Yu -if he's not mistaken- stood in front of the gate with his body bent down. It seemed that he was tying his shoes. Sure it must be him by the reactions of everyone around. They acted differently everytime the older teen was near.

Although Kanda doesn't know Allen, but Allen knows him, because that man kept being talked about anyway. He wasn't the eavesdropping type of person but by the loudness of the student's voice everytime they enthusiastically having a conversation about Kanda, which was every day, he couldn't help but over heard. By what he had accidentally listened; Kanda was some kind of god for the school. He ace all subjects, master in Kendo and had the perfect looks. He was admired by almost everyone.

Grey eyes still glued on the long haired teen, Allen noticed how high his cheekbone is. With the perfect skin and strong eyes, it just added to the good complexion. His height was to kill for. It just a matter of time before Allen realized his stare was going on for far too long because Kanda had already walked out of the gate. Not only that, Allen was also going to be late for his work if he still stood there like a rock.

Without any further, he ran towards his workplace.

-----

"Have a nice day." Allen threw a smile towards one of the customer that was just about to left. His boss, Tiedoll smiled from behind as he watched his favorite worker. Since today was pay day, the Coffee Shop was stacked with people. The surroundings were loud and it made the old man's lips curved up into a smile.

As the boy was counting the money in the cash register (it was becoming a habit, too), the phone rang and he picked it up. "Tiedoll's Coffee Shop, may I help y-" Before he could finish his sentence, an ever so familiar voice sounded "Oi, Idiot. This is me." Allen let out a starlet groan. It was Cross. "Hi master." He replied, obviously un-contempt. "Brat, I want to make this fast and quick." Marian said through the other line. "You're going back here if you get A's for all your subjects. That's an agreement between Tiedoll and me."

Allen stood there silently, his brain was complying everything his master had just said. As he understood everything, the boy's eyes widened in mild shock and happy. "Wow, I-" Allen heard voices of women from Cross's side. He was most likely mingling with whores again. "Talk to Tiedoll." Were his last words before he hung up. Still flushed in surprise, the teen turned his back towards the man. "It's Cross. Is it true I'll…" Timid mouth still gapped open. In front of him, Tiedoll patted the boy's back. "I think London is where you want to be." He said.

"I… I don't know what to say." Allen's mouth curved up now. "I saw your report cards." Tiedoll said in a calm manner. "I know why your results are… unsatisfying. You're a clever boy, Allen. It's a pity if you keep living here." He continued again. Pure joy swayed in Allen's belly. Without a moment of hesitation, he jumped and hugged Tiedoll on the stomach. "Thank you!!" He cheered in high spirit. Tiedoll just chuckled at his little worker's happy reaction, poked his head and pointed the boy towards the waiting customer. Allen blushed in embarrassment and ran towards his workplace.

"Come again." He chorused everytime a customer paid their bills. He was downright happy.

"You rotten son of a bitch!" All of a sudden the place was wrapped in silence. Allen, taken aback by those vile words looked towards the source of the noise. It just made that day sour.  
From his vision, he saw a man, slightly built, with both hands on a table. Clearly he slammed on it just a few moments ago. "Because of _you _my girl left me, for not being good enough!" Rage was clearly engraved on his face. Everyone in the establishment was now having their attention on the particular scene.

"Shut up." Deep voice crashed through the silence. "Your face makes me hard to enjoy my coffee."

The white-haired boy moved closer to the crowd and he saw something he didn't expect to see. It was _Kanda_, getting yelled by some big guy. Kanda doesn't seem to look scared or something. His face was stoic. "What did you say?!" The huge guy yelled again. "My girl and I have been together for 5 fuckin' years. And it ended just because- of some, of some girly asshole!"

Clenching his fist, he rose up his hand and was going to pound Kanda over. Just before Allen could stop him, the long haired teen avoided the attack, took the man's neck in his hand and gripped it tight. "Heh, it's not my fault you're not damned 'good enough'." Smirking, his tone was taunting. "If you want a fight, then just say it asshole, stop crapping like a damn son of a bitch" He held the neck tighter now and the sound escaped from the now-helpless man was too painful to even be heard.

Acting by his instinct, Allen rushed inside the scene and grabbed Kanda's hand in his. "Stop." He had rare venom on the tip of his tongue. "Don't cause a ruckus here, if you please." The boy glared at Kanda. He doesn't care if that man was 'prince' but he sure abhorred his attitude.

"Let me go." Kanda spat. Brow twitched, Allen shoved the older teen's hand away. "I have the authority to kick you out, so stop _now_." They were exchanging glares now. "Imbecile." Dark eyes met grey ones, and he continued, "People like you disgust me."  
Allen's heart beat faster with despise. How this… this inconsiderable _jerk_ was the king of school?? He doesn't get it. Sure the bastard has the brain, the looks and everything but the attitude was pure rotten!

"I take that as a compliment." It was a shame getting his hand in contact with that rude bastard. "I'm outta here." Kanda, glare still glued on the boy, fished his hands inside his pocket and took out a black wallet. He threw the bill to Allen and strode away, leaving the boy with everyone's eyes on him.

Just when Allen bent down to collect the money, Mr. Tiedoll took his hand and flashed him a warm smile. "I'll take care of everything from here. You go back to your place." The old man said, referring to the counter.

------

Small hand shoved the white bangs away from his eyes. Allen walked, almost stomping his way towards his dorm. It was 6:15 in the evening and that afternoon's incident was still pristine in his mind. What a way to ruin a happy news, which was rare for the boy ever since he stepped his foot on this 'Land of Rising Sun'.

Suddenly it hit him, just because he had a chance to go back to London doesn't mean he will. There's one condition and the condition was that he had to get all A's, which was hard for him. He couldn't concentrate in school with all the interruptions he got every day. With that, Allen's face went down. _If only_, he thought_, I have a personal tutor then everything will be alright_.

"Excuse me." Allen's strode halted as someone called him from behind, if he was right. Sure enough, there stood a girl, a bit older than him maybe, someone he had never seen before. "Are you heading to Nariwa High School?" She asked. Allen nodded timidly.

"Oh good. My name is Lou Fa, a Medical student. You see, I need to make a project about cleanliness of different schools in Tokyo. I want to start off from your school, but strangers aren't allowed to enter. So, can you please help me?" The girl requested with her hands hold his. A bit awkward, Allen cocked his head a little. He was not sure whether it's a good thing to give a hand to strangers. But seeing she looked very educated and polite, he found her harmless. "Um… okay. What can I do?"

Smiled, the girl took out an instant camera that looked quite a fortune. She handed it to Allen "It's simple. All you have to do is taking a picture of your school's dorms, toilet, library, and canteen. You can send me the pictures through Mr. Bak."

"Mr. Bak?" Allen asked absent-mindedly.

"Yes, Bak. You know, one of your school's staff. He was a friend of mine. Actually I wanted to seek his help but he was absent to teach today, he got a very bad fever." Lou Fa sulked slightly. Eyes scanning the camera, Allen curved his lips up. "Sure, I'll help."  
Lou Fa's face changed its color from white to red as Allen smiled. "Thanks!" She said, barely audible and for some reason the boy couldn't figure out, she ran. Allen stood there for a moment. "Er… I guess I can start taking pictures now?"

-----

_Plik, plak, plik, plak_

The boy shivered by the sound of his own footsteps. It was dark outside and he was in the silent hallway. Luckily he made friends with the school guard so he was allowed to enter the building (secretly from the teachers, anyway), and the guard accompanied him behind. He had finished taking pictures of the toilet, library, and canteen so there's nothing else to do in the school. Allen breathed out a sigh of relief and finally stepped outside the building.

"Thank you, ." He smiled to the man. Toma smiled back and continued his patrol. Allen's next and last destination was the dorm. Since he couldn't enter the girl's building, (not that he wanted to) he walked towards his own instead. On his way there, he passed the senior building. _'_I can just take the picture of the senior's dorm, while I'm here'_. _He thought and changed his direction.

As the boy cleared his vision, he realized that he _was_ in the senior's building, but at the backyard. There were trees and bushes and a long thick line of string where the students hang their clothes (which, Allen could see, were a _lot_). It was 8:30p.m and probably no one was there.

However, through the silence and howls of night's wind, Allen's hearing senses perked up by a sound of grass and bushes being disturbed. Clearly someone was there, and Allen guessed it right as he saw a tall figure between those hanging clothes. It was odd for the boy. He thought everyone was already in the building. Allen moved closer towards the silhouette.

For a reason his hand was shaking the camera. His heart beat fasten rapidly. He had this weird imagination of a burglar. But no sane person would rob a dorm. However that thought was vague in his mind as his fright took over most of his brain cell. Silently Allen shook his head, trying to calm himself. When he brought his head up, the figure was no longer there. Feeling odd, the boy turned back and caught sight of someone's back.

"WHAT THE HELL!" He shouted his high pitch shout, taken aback by the sudden view of the too close-skin. The said person turned back with eyes widened, accompanied by a "WAAH!!"

"Gyaah!!!" Allen joined the shout. His hand threw everywhere harshly and all of a sudden he accidentally clicked on the button. As the camera flash dashed on the person, Allen quickly picked up who he was. "_Kanda?_" He said, mild-laughing.

"What- who the hell are you?" Embarrassed, Kanda took the boy's shirt and brought him up face-to-face. "Aren't you that brat from the coffee shop?" He said again, eyes winced. Allen pushed the taller man away. "Yes I am." He looked closer at Kanda. He could only see his face since that place was too dark.

Suddenly the instant camera finished projecting that wasn't-supposed-to- be- taken picture. Small piece of hard, flashing, mild damp picture slipped from the bottom of the camera. Allen took it and got a small glance at it, and laughed. "Oi, what's so funny beansprout?!" Kanda said through rage. Still in laughter, Allen showed Kanda the picture.

On the piece, there's Kanda on it, with a bright yellow towel wrapped around him from chest to knee just like how women does. There's even a smaller pink towel around his long wet hair. And the expression… god, the expression was fabulous. His two eyes were huge with surprise and his mouth was wide open. "I… I don't know you're dressing like _that_!" Allen burst out. The taller teen's face was going redder if it's even possible. "IMBECILE!" He shouted and thrust his hand towards the picture. Out of luck, Allen already avoided it.

"Give me that picture you little bitch!" The older hissed through gritted teeth. Allen continued to avoid all Kanda's attempts to take the picture from him. "If you're nicer maybe I will!" The boy laughed again.

After a long 15 minutes chase, both boys stopped and panted for air. "Ha… You- stupid…" Kanda discontinued his sentence. The white haired boy slumped down onto the ground. "I'm beat." He said. "Give. Me. The. Picture." The older still didn't give up. "Why? You don't want me to show this to everyone tomorrow?" Allen said with a coil smile. That man deserved it anyway, seeing how bad he behaved that afternoon.

"No, no!" Exasperated, Kanda took the smaller's arm in his and gripped it tight. "If you do that, I'm going to kill you." A glare pierced inside Allen's eyes. But Allen doesn't seem to be affected, much. All of a sudden, the boy had an idea.

"I won't do that." He said and Kanda let out a sigh.

"But with one condition." Allen continued and shoved one finger in front of the man's face. "For god's sake _what_?" Kanda replied, obviously annoyed and uninterested with the boy's offer. "Be my personal teacher."

Silence filled the place. "Be fucking what??"

"My, personal, teacher." Allen repeated slowly. "I heard that you're good in studies, so you should be able to help me."

"Tch, I need to be a tutor for a fucking beansprout?" Kanda's eyes bore holes inside the smaller boy's one.

"Bea- what?? My name is Allen!" He fired up. But then he sat down again. "Fine, if you don't want to I guess its sheer humiliation for you." Allen brought the picture up and swayed it around the man's face. "Give me that!" Kanda lunged forward but he end up falling next to the boy who were laughing his lungs out. "Okay fine! I'll be your tutor! Baka moyashi."

"Why are you calling me a beansprout? I already tell you my name you know."

"Hnn, like I care." Kanda rose up and walked away from the ground, heading towards his dorm. "I hate you." He stammered before walking away. Allen still sat there looking at the picture, and later his laughter blasted again.

"Che." Kanda was annoyed. He was not a people person. It would be a miracle if the beansprout would survive while he was teaching. But… it's just _teaching_, it's not that bad, right?


	2. Exit Wounds

Sooo sorry for the delay. But well, here I am. Enjoy this next chapter!

...Wow, almost two years of absence and all I can say is this. I'm pathetic OTL

**** = Cheezburger language, or also known as the LOLCat language. Usually used to mock people or being sarcastic. If you don't know this language... then you're not hanging around the internet long enough**

* * *

Kanda pressed his feet lightly on the floor, careful not to cause too much unwanted sound. He made his way to the principal's office and manoeuvred his head left and right to avoid the school guard Toma from sighting his presence. Carefully, he closed the thick door.

As he had done this every night, he turned on the principal's personal computer and keyed in the password. It was hilarious; who would've guessed that the password would be 'password'? The principal's daughter Emilia just can't keep her voice low every time she spills some secrets. Some more, Kanda has nice hearing. He couldn't help but to overheard her 'information'.

He found that out two years ago, about the principal's computer password. It was convenient for him to change anything about the school, like celebration date, information about School Sports, student's profile... and of course, the answers for upcoming exams and pop quiz. He would memorize those answers and copied them onto the question paper. As easy as ABC. That is... until he realized what he had just promised to the little white kid out of accident. He was too desperate to shield the utterly embarrassing picture from others that he agreed to do anything the beansprout asked him to do without consideration. And what's his name again? Mellon? Allem? Bratlen?

Besides, it was the kid's fault he walked around in that embarrassing attire in the first place! AND it was the kid _again_ who discovered him in that state. They say if you meet the same person 3 times in a day, it was destiny. Yeah sure, it was _a damn hell of a destiny_ to be caught in that embarrassing situation... not to mention it was _recorded_.

It all started quite_ innocently_ when Kanda attempted to cheat like he always does. That is, by breaking into the principal's office and did what he was doing right now. The progress should have flowed well just like it did every night for 2 years straight, however that night, he heard unexpected footsteps. Toma's patrol should be still far away from the office. Quickly, he turned off the computer and immediately took a peek from the ajar door. It was him, the white haired brat from the restaurant. He waited for a while and leaned on the wall next to the door. He thought the kid would go away sooner or later, but that thought dissipated as soon as he noticed that the kid's shadow was getting closer and bigger. Some more, he was bringing a _camera _with him! What the fuck was he doing with that camera and wandering around the school at night? Ghost hunting?

As soon as the door he was leaning next to was cracked open, he jumped out of the window without thinking. Luck wasn't by his side that night for he landed on a puddle of mud. The sound he made alerted Toma. He saw the figure of the school guard running towards him and Kanda crawled away as soon as possible though the nearby bushes. When he thought he was safe, the long haired man saw a group of school prefects doing a long ass briefing. God, why must it be done tonight of all night?

Scanning himself, he thought _'who would be a fool to see a student covered with mud and leaf that was walking back from the school ground and not look suspicious'_? Aside from that, most of the prefects were made up of some jealous male students who tried so hard to knock him down. He had to take a detour through the girl's place. He also took one or two of the towels that were hanged by the girls at their yard without bothering to look at the colours.

When he arrived at his destination, he washed himself and his clothes in the first floor bathroom, making sure that no one else was present. Because of the chilly night air that he _swore_ was trying to freeze him, he wrapped his whole body with the goddamned pink towel he grabbed before and does the same with his hair. Kanda proceeded to hang his clothes swiftly and quietly and hoped that no one will see him.

When he suddenly felt a person's heat touched his back, he screamed out of character. His pride was in danger damn it! And when he noted that his picture was taken, who would _not_ be freaked out? It was that weird ghost-hunting foreign kid. Again.

"Be my tutor" the kid had said. But Kanda did not pick up any of that. All he knew was that his pride and dignity were about to be thrown out of the window and the only thing he can do to avoid that from happening was to agree on the kid. So he did. That's why when both of them separate ways with the foreigner looked contented, Kanda flashback about what he had agreed on. And he thought "_Oh fuck_"

How the hell can he teach the junior when his IQ is about the same as the beansprout-looking, ghost-hunting brat?

That is why he broke into the principal's office tonight to check up on the subjects the little white kid's class has been up to, hoping that he might have any idea about it. Kanda iz genius******.

However, when he looked it up, all the subjects they were learning about were the ones Kanda didn't paid attention to. Algebra, differentiation, trigonometry... is there a way for him to pretend to look like a genius without blowing himself off? No, not this time. He needed to understand all these... these...un-understandable damned half number half alphabet math thing. The boy said to meet him in the school library on Saturday, which leaves him 5 days from now to learn all these 3 subjects all by himself.

And so, he resolute to learn everything he was taught since his junior year every night. Kanda Yuu will _not_ appear like an idiot in front of a certain nobody- brat.

* * *

"Are you acting idiotic, Kanda?" Allen asked. It was the nth time the senior said something illogical, and everyone knows Math is nothing but logic. "In the book, it states that a quadratic equation is an equation with an unknown has the highest power of 2, not 22."

Kanda grunted, looked uninterested. It might be the boy's imagination but he sensed that Kanda really doesn't have any idea what the question wanted. But it didn't matter to him that the older boy is reluctant to teach. Kanda's very presence in the same table with Allen prevents other students from flaming the boy when he enters the library, unlike any other time when he was alone. This allowed him to study easier and faster. Allen was a gifted fast-learner; he just needs an appropriate time and situation –such as this- to master almost anything he learns (Allen suspected this must be some habit innate while living with Cross).

Except for the fact that now he has to get used to the envious stares he received from other students, boys and girls both.

Allen studied the book intensely, taking this golden opportunity to study back what he missed. He almost forgot the presence of the dark haired man in front of him. When Allen puts down the book, he looked up and saw Kanda's gaze pierced though him. The man had his elbows landed on the table and his fingers laced together, his nose bridge covered by the joined fingers. The way he stared at Allen made him uneasy. "W-what?" he asked.

"I was thinking..." Kanda replied. Allen snorted "Oh _finally_ you're doing some thinking for me."

"Watch it, brat." He said back to Allen. The boy did the same, a grin replacing his once uncomfortable expression "My lips are sealed, BaKanda."

Kanda glowered. Allen smiled.

"Anyway" the raven haired man started again "If you're so good at this, why need my help?"

"Excuse me?" Allen asked. "Good at what?"

"You didn't ask me anything. Not even once." The older one said. "You read some sentences on the book for a second, and then know exactly what to do."

Allen blinked. "And?"

"Why are you so desperate for my help in the first place, if you can do it by yourself?"

The albino was silent for a while, wasn't sure how to reply. Sure, it sounded easy, but if you're asked this by a super popular, godlike, sharp-tongued senior who appears to be never been bullied or face mental pain before -more likely to cause it- and always look down on others, no it's not as easy as it seemed.

"Because I like it when I study with others" It's not a lie, anyway.

Kanda huffed "Don't you have friends for this?"

Allen tensed. His face sobered. Kanda noticed this and raised his eyebrow. "What?"

Before the boy could say anything, the librarian disturbed their conversation "I'm sorry, it's already 6, the library's about to close." Allen sighed of relief at this. "I see you again next week, Kanda. Possible, we might meet again at school."

The man grunted "Yeah well, I hope that ain't happen."

Allen watched as the senior hurriedly left the place. He scanned the table that they used to make sure everything was packed, and then he realized that Kanda had forgotten his stationary case.

* * *

The next day, Allen discovered a drastic change of his dorm mates' behaviours. Once Allen was out of his room, they greeted him; some even placed their hand on his shoulders acting like old friends. Allen was taken aback by it but he won't show. What freaked him out the most was the way his classmates shook his hands as soon as he stepped into his classroom. The girls smiled and winked at him. If the bullying before made him queasy, this was worse.

He won't have to guess the reason behind it.

"So how was it?" One of the girls asked him out of a blue. "Umm... what was what?" he asked, voice laced with nervousness. He's always nervous talking to them.

"Sitting near my Kanda Yu? Is it true he radiates warmth and happiness?" The girl with high ponytail and overdid hair dye asked again in a more sky-high manner.

_What kind of bull is that? He radiates coldness more than warmth_ Allen wanted to say, but refrain to. He knew so well what would happen to him if he slipped something wrong. "Err... I guess...?"

She smiled. The whole group smiled. If you've seen a person possessed and they're screaming and scratching everyone, this scene is freakier than that. "A-anyway, I've got to go for a while." He puts down his bag pack and rushed out. The girls were smirking at his jitteriness. "He won't last."

The teacher came in sooner; her hands were full of papers "I have a surprise for all of you. Pop Quiz"

They looked back at Allen's empty table and their leader, tall and slim, with a long overly-ironed brown hair hanging around her hips raised her hand to grab the educator's attention ", may I have a word before we begin?"

raised her eyebrows "Yes ?"

"It appears that one of us here vamoosed" She said with a convoluted smile while tapping Allen's table, her friends were giggling behind her "I'd say, in the school rule, students who come late at class should not be allowed to get lesson for the said period"

The teacher fixed her glasses to take a better look "Hmm... it is true. I shall take action. Thanks for informing me Ms. Tanaka"

Rin Tanaka giggled in a devious manner "Anytime, teacher dearest." And before they all departed to their own seat, a tanned short haired girl grabbed Allen's bag pack and threw it out of the window before the teacher notice.

A sound of something just dropped from the window alerted Kanda while he was searching for his stationery case.

'_That was weird._' He thought regarding the sound. But he ignored it and got back to his searching. '_Shit, where's that case? There's an answer sheet of the pop quiz I copied last night for today. If I can't find it, I'm fucked_.' He stopped to think for a moment and then it hit him like a jet plane. "Beansprout"

Hurriedly he ran to the staircase to find the boy. If he's not mistaken, the beansprout's class was directly on top of his. Coincidently, he bumped onto the exact person he was searching for. "Brat, you-"

"Kanda, you forgot your case yesterday, I want to send it back." He answered without waiting for the senior to finish. Kanda snatched it quickly and "Haveyouseewhat'sinside?" he asked, maybe too shaky than he knew it. Allen probably didn't notice this for he answered immediately "Sorry, I have to go now before the bell-"

Allen cursed softly. Speaking of the devil, the bell rang as soon as he talked about it. "I need to go!"

Kanda looked at the kid, confused. What was there to rush about? He was tardy alot of times and never gets punished for it. Instead, his teacher –especially female teachers- will greet him with a smile without acknowledging his lateness.

Allen ran as fast as he could, but it was too late. The teacher had already given out the papers. "Mr. Walker." She started "You know I do not appreciate my students being late on me"

"B-but , I only left to give something to my friend. I was here early. Look, there's my bag..." he pointed, but it was a little too late to realize that his bag was missing. "_What?_"

"Hm? What is it Walker? You do not bother to bring your bag too? Well if you don't want to study for my lesson, you might as well do not enter my classroom at all. Stay outside there until my lesson finish!"

Allen tried to speak, but his teacher took hold of the door knob and slammed the hard wooden door to his face. He smelled the smell copper, it must be his nose bleeding by the impact. He knocked, trying to reason with her but it was no use. She wouldn't listen. He tried not to let his tears flow. It must be the girls who fooled around with him again, he knew. However, when he heard the whole class laughed, he couldn't hold it back. His eyes hot with pearly liquid and he stood there alone in the hallway, sobbing.

* * *

That afternoon, Allen was in no mood to work. His face was pale and dull by the depression. He had studied hard that weekend just to prepare for the pop quiz and what did he get? How can he face Kanda with a zero-marked paper after his first teaching lesson? Slumping his head on the cash register, he groaned out loud since there was no costumer present at the moment.

Kanda walked into the restaurant through the back door. It's been decades since he walked though this entrance but he had to apologize to his grandpa for making a ruckus in his restaurant the other day. Sure he might looks like a spoiled bastard with a stick up in his ass but he respected his ex-soldier grandfather, enough respect to give him his sincere apology.

'_Come to think of it, the bean works here_.' He thought while searching for his grandfather in the restaurant's kitchen. '_Wouldn't hurt if I check on how his quiz went. If it went well maybe then he can get the hell out of my life.'_

Kanda walked towards the door that leads him to the cashier. He saw the boy sitting and placing his head on the counter. He was asleep.

'_Goddamn kid, don't sleep while working with my old man_.' Kanda muttered, approaching him. As he stretched his hand to shake the boy's shoulder, he was taken aback by Allen's sudden sobbing sound. He looked at him closely. His face was pale and a bit of red painted his soft cheek. His eyes were surrounded by dark circles. The way his lips opened and closed while he was breathing softly made him looked so angelic. His white hair looked like his halo surrounding his round face.

Kanda grabbed a chair and sat next to the boy, watching him. The beansprout may be the first person in Nariwa High School to ever look at him as a normal human instead of a semi-god. He hated how everyone thinks of him like that. It was awkward for him to get so many unwanted attentions. But spending his time with this kid... he doesn't want to admit it but, is quite pleasurable. At least he can be at ease without having this person stare at him lustily or enviously. But that doesn't mean he craved more of the boy's company, no. He hated the boy... well, _supposed_ to.

He stared down until his sight stopped upon a piece of paper the kid was holding. He took it and it appeared to be today's quiz. It was a '0'.

'_What the hell? After his hard work that day? He can't even answer a single one_?' The long haired senior thought. '_There must be something behind this. My precious time did __**not**__ go to waste or I'll have to beat someone-_'

"Yuu, you can't disturb someone's privacy like this" all of a sudden, Tiedoll appeared behind him, making him jump a bit. "Poor Allen-chan, being ill-treated in school. No wonder his marks were like this."

Kanda looked at his grandfather for a while "What? The boy's bullied or some crap?"

He expected the old man to reply softly like he always did but he didn't. Instead, Tiedoll's face was tensed and strict "You don't know about him? Well I figured. Since my grandchild was quite well-known, I don't think you would spend your time to be informed about the social problems in your school."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" He said, trying not to let his past memories come back by the word 'bullied' and 'social problems'. But Tiedoll wasn't helping "Do you remember Yuu? Why do we move you to Nariwa High School 2 years ago?"

Kanda flinched "Yeah" he remembered everything. He remembered how his only friend Alma was killed by the bullies in his former school, making his family pushed Kanda to move out of the dangerous black-listed school. Although he was equipped with Kendo arts, they didn't convinced that it would shield him from the violence. "Allen... suffered the same treatment like Alma." His grandfather continued. "They pushed him from the flight of stairs, dropped him into the mud, crash his belongings... all because he is different."

The long haired man crossed his legs and stared at the sleeping boy in front of him.

"_Don't you have friends for this?"_

Now he knew why the boy's face dulled when he asked that.

"Sometimes I see him arrived with bruises and bleeding lips." TIedoll walked closer towards Allen, ruffled the boy's hair "But you know what's different between him and Alma? He still smile despites everything that happened."

"I...see..." was all Kanda could reply. He was speechless. Who knew this annoying all-smiles brat had suffered the same thing his best friend did few years ago? Was Kanda so heartless to see another similar case presented in front of him without trying to help?

"I'll stop by another time old man." He picked up his bag and exited towards the back door. Tiedoll shook Allen to wake him up and replied "Anytime, Yuu."

* * *

That Friday, after going through one of the most painful week he ever had, Allen stood in front of his class. His fingers twitched as he opened the door of his classroom.

He had his P.E shirt ripped apart; his textbooks burned and suffered some bruises here and there by the objects his classmates had thrown to him. It was a warning. A warning that stated 'Get lost punk, don't disturb our Kanda'. Now he was reluctant than ever to enter his classroom. Who knows what kind of torture he had to face today?

As he pushed the door open, a hand grabbed him from behind and dumped him on the cold hard floor. "Brat, I thought you would be locking yourself in your room by now." One of the boys shouted. "My girlfriend said if I'm able to get you to say you're not going to disturb Kanda Yu again, she'll give me a good time. A _very _good time." He smirked. Another one threw a bucket of cold ice on him and a group of girls stepped into the scene and gave him a hard kick.

"Stay away, freak. You don't belong here. I am disgusted by how you tainted my poor Kanda by your freaky appearance." She slapped him, hard. "Until this image of you standing next to him is out of my mind, you won't be having an easy high school life, geddit?"

Allen couldn't take it; he felt another attack coming, and another, and another. It was torture. Maybe involving himself with the long haired senior was a horrible mistake. Instead of helping, he made Allen's life worse. The physical pain he was facing was going numb on him. But the pain he felt in his heart was incurable. These humiliation, hatred... he didn't know why he deserved all these just because he was different.

And then it was over. Everything fell silent. He didn't detect anyone made a single move. Upon this, he opened his eyes. Everyone weren't looking at him, but at the door instead.

There he was, Kanda Yu, the source of all his torture, standing there confidently with his one hand in his pocket. Allen always had this thought; all week he had been thinking... that Kanda was the one who ordered his little minions to 'take care' of Allen. Which was why when he walked with all his grace and self-assurance towards Allen, the boy tried to scoot away. But the pain on his legs prevented him from doing so.

"I'm...sorry." The cold, heartless senior whispered to him tenderly, as if he wanted Allen to be the only one in the world to hear his soft apology. "So sorry." He rustled again, taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the blood that flowed out of Allen's nose. The place was as mute as forest. Everyone stared in shock by what they had just witnessed... and what they might face.

Kanda looked back, glowering at everyone in the room. If looks could kill, Kanda's piercing glare could've killed them. But sadly it didn't, instead, sending chills down their spine. He then proceeded to take off his jacket and wrapped Allen –who was soaked by the cold water and ice- with it. "Listen, you goddamned motherfuckers" he started. "I am not, I repeat, _not _anyone's property and it's fucking pissing me off to see each of you son of a skanky bitches did this for the sake of me. Fuckin hell, let me do all I want and talk to who I want without you pieces of shits do anything about it."

He got up and pulled the bean sprout's hand along, helping the weak boy to get up "And this little brattling here" Kanda made sure everyone looked, _really looked_ at Allen so he carried the boy bridal style in his arms "Can only have his life be miserable by _me_ alone. Anyone is not allowed to touch him. At all. Or I'll make sure your parents regret the day they agreed to send you to this hell hole you call school"

Allen wanted to say something but he was too feeble to do so. He can only grab a fistful of Kanda's shirt and relished the surprising comfort he found in the man's arms.

He didn't know why the older one was acting nice to him, but it doesn't matter right now. In his half-conscious state, he embraced the man's torso without knowing, while Kanda made his way to the infirmary.

* * *

"I only met him for a few days and _this_ is what he made me do?"

After all the drama, these words are the first to pop out of Kanda's head.

* * *

Reviews kill minions of authors block! So if you want me to get my motivation and inspiration faster, please drop a review. Thanks )


End file.
